Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley stood silently as an army of union leaders, fellow officers, and lawyers spoke in ardent support of his actions on July 16.

Police union officials have been tight-lipped about the arrest of Harvard University African American Studies Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and the media firestorm that has followed, until now.

During a press conference Friday, inside Hotel Marlowe on Edwin H. Land Boulevard, those backing Crowley’s case say he followed proper police protocol, insisted that race was not an issue, and called for apologies from Gov. Deval Patrick and President Barack Obama.

Obama took aim at the Cambridge Police Department at Wednesday night's White House press conference, saying the department "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates at his own home following a breaking and entering call from a nearby witness.

“Cambridge police are not stupid; I am proud to represent the officers of the Cambridge Police Department,” said Steve Killian, president of the Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Association. “When the time is right they should make an apology to us.”

Crowley stood behind the podium, at times with a slight smile on his face, but he did not speak or field questions from the press. Members of the Cambridge Multicultural Police Association were also present, but did not address the crowd of reporters from a wide range of media outlets.

Gates was arrested on Thursday, July 16 after a woman reported she saw a suspicious black male trying to get his way into a Ware Street home. It turns out the home belonged to Gates, who had just returned to Cambridge from a trip to China. Gates was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after Crowley said Gates was yelling and making a scene. The charges were dismissed Tuesday.

Alan McDonald, lawyer for the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association, said the decision to drop the charges against Gates was done without their input.

“It would have been better to let the matter go forward to a trial so that the truth could have been disclosed,” he said. “In our view there was nothing stupid about what happened.”

Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas announced on Thursday that he will appoint a professional panel to analyze what exactly occurred that day, and will review tapes of the 911 call made to police. Cambridge City Solicitor Donald Drisdell is currently reviewing the tapes.

Since the incident, dizzying amount of attention has been placed around the issue of racial profiling, and whether or not it played a role between Crowley and Gates.

McDonald said that race was not involved in any decision making that day.

“[Crowley] acted appropriately as any police officer would in conducting a response to a break in-progress call,” he said. “The President suggested that somehow, at least implied, that there’s a link between what happened here and the history of problems between persons of color and law enforcement and while it’s true in some localities, it isn’t true in Cambridge, it wasn’t true in this case, it was inappropriate to draw that comparison… there is no evidence whatsoever that the arrest was race based.”

As for a one-on-one meeting to be held between Crowley and Gates – as has been suggested by state Sen. Anthony Galluccio – a McDonald said they have not had time to consider the opportunity yet. Crowley has stated that he will not apologize to Gates, and does expect one from him in return.